I've turned in my application, now what? 

FAQs: 

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1. What happens next?

Naperville Tornado Relief will be reviewing applications to make sure the information is accurate and complete. If you accidentally marked that you are a green home, when you really are red, we’ll fix that. If you left off a phone number or the bid/estimate didn’t upload, we’ll let you know and ask you for that information. If you submitted a bid/estimate that requires more information, we’ll let you know that as well.

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Then, we will go through the applications in the order of our funding process and match bids with available funding until we complete them or run out of money. In some cases, we may be prorating funds (splitting remaining funds between projects). In that case, homeowners would have to make up the difference in the cost or choose not to have the work done.

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Once we have the fund matching complete and funding in the bank from the grants, we’ll email homeowners with how much funding they are eligible to receive. Checks will go out once proof that work is complete is turned in (we need before, during and after pictures).

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2. How quickly can I have work started?

Work can't begin until we have funding in the bank and can pay contractors in a timely manner. We are working through a pretty thorough and complicated process with the State of Illinois to access the funding. We’ll let you know as soon as we are able to cut checks. We’ll be able to access City of Naperville funding after we’ve gone through the State of Illinois grant. But first, the city council has to have one last vote on the funding. That vote is scheduled to happen June 20 at 7 p.m. at City Hall. We expect that to go smoothly.

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3. I don’t want to wait. Can I start work right away and be reimbursed?

Unfortunately, we can’t offer reimbursement. In order to be eligible for funding, you must follow the process we have in place. Once work is complete, we will cut checks written to the homeowner AND contractor (just like insurance companies). Homeowners will then sign checks over to the contractor.

4. I want to use a different contractor than the one I provided a bid for in the application.

You need to use the contractor bid you submitted with the application. If there’s a huge problem, please reach out to us and we will try to work with you. But to preserve the integrity of the program and to follow the rules and regulations of using this government funding, the contracts you submitted with the application need to reflect the work done by that contractor. Checks for completed work will be written to you and the contractor you submitted in the application.

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5. I want to upgrade to sod. How does payment for that work?

Our vetted contractors (Balanced Environment and Hively Landscaping) provided an option for homeowners to upgrade to sod. The price in the estimate from our vetted contractors reflects a cost over and above what it would cost to do grass seed. In other words, homeowners who go with sod are getting a “discount” of sorts because Naperville Tornado Relief is giving them funding for grass seed. Our vetted contractors backed that out of the price of the sod estimate, making it cheaper than if they priced out the full cost of sod.

6. Who is responsible for watering and maintaining the new grass and plants?

Homeowners are responsible to care for their new lawns and plants. Watering and maintenance is at homeowner cost.